Starting today, a central team is on a four-day visit in Karnataka to study the drought situation the state is facing due to shortage of rainfall.

The state has received a 20 per cent rainfall deficit this season, prompting the government to declare 195 taluks as drought-hit. The loss was more than Rs 30,000 crore and an immediate loss of Rs 3,800 crore was incurred.

The Centre has sent a 10-member team after the state sought compensation for the drought. The 10-member team, led by Ajit Kumar Sahu, Joint Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry, will tour the state in three groups. The three teams will visit the State Natural Disaster Management Centre to take stock of the rainfall deficit, crop situation, water situation in reservoirs and tanks and bunds. They will hold a meeting with top officials at Vidhana Soudha following that and then proceed on a tour of the state.

Agriculture minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, speaking to Republic, said, “Three teams from the Centre have arrived to assess and analyse the drought situation in the state. Farmers in the state are suffering due to deficit rainfall and we have requested financial aid to compensate them for the losses incurred. The south-west monsoon has been weak in the Cauvery basin and rainfall has been low in North Karnataka, making it difficult for farmers. We expect the Centre to compensate the farmers after the team submits the report."

Chaluvarayaswamy noted that during the visit of the central team to the districts, the revenue, agriculture and horticulture department officials should apprise them of the ground realities of this year's rainfall. An official from the revenue department, speaking to Republic on condition of anonymity, said, "In many places, crops have been completely damaged and in some places, there has been a drastic fall in yields. We will accompany the central team and brief them about the ground realities, water table, water storage in reservoirs and areas based on the severity of drought."

The first team led by Ajit Kumar Sahu, Joint Secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry, will be accompanied by KS Sudhakar, Director, Department of Oilseeds Development. J Ponnusamy, Assistant Director, Department of Expenditure Affairs, Mahendra Chandelia, Research Officer, NITI Aayog, Shivcharan Meena, State Agriculture Commissioner, VS Patil will also be there. The team will tour Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Dharwad districts. 

The second team, led by D Rajasekhar, Additional Advisor, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, along with Animal Husbandry Department Director R Thakare, Rural Development Department Assistant Commissioner Motiram and State Natural Disaster Management Centre Director Karigowda will travel to Gadag, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagar districts to get information. 

The third team, led by Central Water Commission Director V Ashok Kumar, will include MNCFC Deputy Director Karan Choudhary, Food and Civil Supplies Department Deputy Secretary Sangeeth Kumar and Senior Advisor to the State Natural Disaster Management Centre Dr Srinivas Reddy. The team will conduct studies in Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Davanagere and Bengaluru Rural districts.

Source - https://www.republicworld.com